Luke Skywalker Was Originally an Even Bigger Jerk in The Last Jedi

This post contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

If you thought Luke Skywalker acted like kind of an asshole in The Last Jedi, know this: he could have been far meaner. In fact, the original cut of the film—which included 20 minutes of deleted scenes that Rian Johnson promises will appear on DVD/Blu-ray releases—included a prank from the Jedi knight that some might call downright cruel.

Among those who do not like The Last Jedi is a contingent of fans complaining that in the new film, Luke behaves out of character—chucking away his old lightsaber and pranking the sincere, eager Rey, when all she wants is to learn how to defend her friends from death. Apparently, however, his games could have gone a lot further—especially in a scene about a practical joke that went too far. According to /Film, the scene took place right after the two talk about Darth Sidious:

Rey notices boats arriving at the island and there appears to be a big
fire from where they’re landing. Luke tells her that it is a group of
bandits who regularly come back to the island to plunder and kill the
caretakers. Rey is very concerned and wants to help them, but Luke
tells her that if you help them now, the raiders will come back
stronger and it will make things worse in the future. He asks Rey if
she is always going to be here to protect them, saying that a true
Jedi Knight would do nothing and would only act to maintain balance,
even when people get hurt.

Rey doesn’t like that rationale, and so she rushes to help. (Remember that shot of Rey running in the trailer that some people noticed was missing from the final film? This was apparently it.)

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But when she sprints into the village square prepared to fight, she discovers a different scene entirely. The caretakers are actually having a party—complete with glow sticks, because apparently fish-nuns can still have a little fun. Rey then furiously confronts Luke, reminding him that her friends actually are dying and “that old legend of Luke Skywalker that you hate so much—I believed in it.” At that point, Luke realizes that his prank went too far.

According to /Film’s Peter Sciretta, the scene was cut because “Luke ended up coming off like an even bigger asshole.” It was also, however, just one of the many changes detailed by /Film. Another particularly interesting cut? The battle between Finn and Captain Phasma—who, despite being touted relatively heavily in the lead-up to The Force Awakens has appeared only briefly on-screen—was originally longer. A moment was cut right after Finn smashed the hole in her helmet:

A group of stormtroopers corner Finn and he tries to get them on his
side, saying that they can join him and escape Phasma’s grasp, just
like he has. Finn says that she’s really a coward who sold out the
codes to Starkiller Base. He pleads with the First Order squad to
escape with him. The Stormtroopers all look at each other . . . and in a
moment borrowed from a Sergio Leone Western, Phasma pulls out her
blaster and guns down all six or seven stormtroopers herself before
they have any time to react. It felt like a tribute to a classic
Western shoot-out, but for whatever reason, it didn’t feel right in
that moment of the movie.

One final detail we’ll leave you with? Laura Dern’s Admiral Holdo was supposed to be even more dismissive of Poe Dameron’s ideas—even calling him “flyboy” and “honey” at one point. Despite those remarks, though, the chemistry between the two still would have been off the charts—because as this film taught us, Oscar Isaac has chemistry with literally everyone and everything.

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